=E2=80=A2 The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is an intergovernme=
ntal organisation for the promotion of free trade and economic integration =
to benefit its four Member States: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switz=
erland. Since the beginning of the 90s, EFTA has progressively developed a =
statistical cooperation policy with Eurostat. =E2=80=A2 For Iceland, =
Liechtenstein and Norway, statistical cooperation with Eurostat is provided=
for in the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) which gathers the=
3 EFTA countries and the 27 EU Member States into a single market. =
=E2=80=A2 Statistical Cooperation between Switzerland and Eurostat is gover=
ned by a bilateral agreement.

=20

Objective of EFTA Statistical Cooperation

=20

The EFTA Statistical Office (ESO) was created as a liaison office betwee=
n Eurostat and the EFTA national statistical institutes. ESO's main objecti=
ve is to promote the full inclusion of the EFTA States in the European Stat=
istical System (ESS), and thus provide harmonised and comparable statistics=
supporting the general cooperation process between EFTA and the EU within =
and outside the EEA Agreement. The cooperation also entails technical coope=
ration programmes with third countries and training of European statisticia=
ns. ESO is located on the premises of Eurostat, the Statistical Office of t=
he European Union, in Luxembourg.

A specific EEA annual statistical programme is developed every year by t=
he EFTA Statistical Office in consultation with the EFTA National Statistic=
al Institutes. The EEA annual statistical programme is based on a subset of=
, and in parallel with the annual statistical programme elaborated by the E=
uropean Commission.

=20

Switzerland/EU annual statistical programme

=20

A specific annual statistical programme is drawn up every year in the fr=
amework of the agreement in the field of statistics between Switzerland and=
the EU.

EFTA attaches great importance to quality and comparability of European =
statistics and therefore supports Eurostat in the design and implementation=
of an ambitious European Statistical Training Programme (ESTP). In 2012, t=
he EFTA Secretariat will fund the organisation of three ESTP courses respec=
tively on Geographic Information Systems (Norway), User-friendly disseminat=
ion of statistics (Norway), and Data analysis and data modelling (Switzerla=
nd). These courses are provided by EFTA National Statistical Institutes and=
open for participation of statisticians from EFTA and EU Member States. In=
return, EFTA statisticians will be invited to participate in all ESTP cour=
ses supported and financed by the European Commission (Eurostat). Other app=
licants may be admitted to the courses depending on the availability of pla=
ces.

EFTA technical cooperation programmes and activities are governed by a M=
emorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the EFTA Secretariat and Eurostat.=
The MoU's overall objective is to avoid gaps or overlapping in technical a=
ssistance toward countries where the European Union is also active, through=
direct involvement of the four EFTA States in statistical programmes run b=
y the European Commission. EFTA's involvement in technical cooperation prog=
rammes under the MoU gives priority to countries that have concluded declar=
ations on cooperation or free trade agreements with EFTA. In 2012, support =
will be mainly granted to economies in transition in Eastern Europe, Caucas=
us and Central Asia (EECCA), Western Balkans and Mediterranean regions (Med=
stat). EFTA cooperation will give priority to global assessments of nationa=
l statistical systems in light of the revised European Statistics Code of P=
ractice as well as seminars and study visits on socio-economic statistics, =
applied statistical methods and management of technical assistance in stati=
stics.